Environmental worldviews of Serbian and Macedonian school students

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to assess the dimensionality of the revised New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale in Serbian and Macedonian culture, and to use it to explore the environmental worldviews of young people in Serbia and the Republic of North Macedonia. A total of 850 pupils aged between 13 and 15 from 11 schools (5 elementary schools and 6 secondary schools) took part in this research. The dataset obtained from the scale was analysed via the principal component analysis factor extraction method, and a varimax rotation was applied. This study found all items load on four dimensions: Balance of Nature, Humans over Nature, Limits to Growth and Environmental Philosophy. Differences between subgroups occur in three out of four dimensions. The students' environmental worldviews were determined by providing the frequency distribution of their responses. Both subgroups in the Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia are (slightly) environmentally conscious, with an ecological view of the environment. Macedonian school students have a slightly higher NEP score than their peers in Serbia, indicating more environmentally protective attitudes among them. The participants did not see the two paradigms as mutually exclusive, as do members of some industrialised societies. The rejection of the Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP) by the NEP is a phenomenon that could well only be present in Western societies, whereas in less industrialised societies, the NEP and DSP could coexist in a comprehensive environmental view. With minor alterations such as word substitutions to facilitate easy comprehension of items by the respondents, the revised NEP scale will show more universal applicability outside developed communities.